Day 32 - Washington D.C.

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Washington D.C. - 34°c

When the alarm went off this morning, I felt the worst I’ve felt all trip. I didn’t get much sleep at all in between all of my coughing and sneezing, with my cold symptoms running very high. I contemplated staying in bed. Missing the coach drop off at 9am would mean having to pick up a taxi into the city later on in the day. Feeling as though I ought to keep powering through, (and not wanting to pick up the $40 cab ride, being so far out of the centre) I got up, had a long shower and managed to get on the coach with about 15 others. Apparently the night had extended quite far into the early morning for many, and subsequently it was a very empty coach trip into D.C.

En route once more to the Smithsonian castle drop off and pick up point, Jerry was kind enough to drop those of us that wanted to go to the National American Archives Museum right outside. Although we were there at 9:30am, being a Sunday the museum didn’t actually open until 10am, so (Brit) Michelle and I waited outside of the museum with several people that had already arrived before us.

Once inside we wandered around looking at so many of the important documents that the museum has kept and looked after over the years. After we’d viewed some of the ‘minor’ documents, we headed to the centre of the museum where the most significant and influential documents were to be found. Security was everywhere and the queue and crowd in this part of the building was huge, and after a good 30-minute wait, I finally got to see the ‘Declaration of Independence’, the ‘American Constitution’, and the ‘Bill of Rights’. Each document had been preserved and was showcased under an air tight, well-lit cabinet in spectacular fashion.

After we left the museum, Michelle and I headed up to Pennsylvania Avenue, where Michelle went off in search of another museum, and I had a wander around some of the buildings and shops on the avenue. I then walked back to Constitution Avenue and into the National Museum of American History, where amongst other things, there was an exhibition on American pop culture with random but significant items on display like Kermit the frog, Oscar the grouch, a Disneyland flying Dumbo car from one of the original rides back in 1955, and Dorothy’s red ruby shoes from the Wizard of Oz. There was another exhibition based on the history of transport dating back to boats and ships, through to the first street cars and trains, right up to the age of the motorcar. The museum had a great gift shop, and I managed to get many souvenirs and gifts in the museum’s sale.

Once I’d finished up in the shop and the museum, I walked up past the Washington monument and the White House, and through the gardens of the mall, which looked very similar to Central Park in New York, and was beautiful with the sunshine coming through between the trees. I continued walking alongside the Reflecting Pool, and right up to the Lincoln Memorial, which I’d briefly seen late on Friday night, only by then it was far too dark by to get any decent photos. Although there was a great atmosphere about the place when it was illuminated in the dark on Friday night, I think seeing it during the day gave me a greater appreciation of how beautiful it all was. The building and the marble statue of Lincoln inside looked amazing and so detailed. I was able to see and photograph so many of the detailed carvings and take in the fine beauty of such an amazing place.

On the way back through the mall, seeking some respite from the sun, I sat down for a while on a park bench and chilled out in the shade, reading some of the leaflets and information I’d picked up throughout the day, and admired the beautiful surroundings of the overhanging trees, stunning plants and peacefully still lakes.

After a while I walked back through the Ellipse grounds in front of the White House and stopped off in the White House Visitor’s Center to look at the exhibits based on the history of the White House, when it was built, the initial discarded plans for how it could have looked, how it has evolved and grown, and a look back at the Presidents and the Presidential families to have lived there over the years. I also sat down to watch a half hour documentary based on the White House, it’s history, the furnishings and a video tour around the building before buying a few souvenirs and headed on my way.

I walked all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue once more, right down to the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden in the mall to take some photos of the sculptures and call in to the garden café for a muffin and a bottle of ice-cold water. Once again it was nice to sit there for a while, peering out of the window into the gardens, looking at the fountains and sculptures. For that quiet 20 minutes or so, I reflected back on so many of the adventures and places I’ve had and seen, now that the Contiki tour is reaching its final day tomorrow.

After leaving there I continued up Constitution Avenue to the Smithsonian Institute Castle where I went in and had a look at some of the articles they had there as a sampler for the other 17 museums, each owned, operated and funded by the Smithsonian institute. As I left and headed out to the place where the coach was coming to pick us up, I bumped into a load of other people from Contiki who had finished looking around Washington D.C. and were waiting for the coach to arrive too.

The coach arrived at 6pm, marking the end of an exhausting 9 hour day walking around D.C. The rest of the Contiki group were aboard the coach, some having been out during the day and catching taxis back to the hotel, others who hadn’t left the hotel at all, all day, preferring to chill out by the pool.

We headed on to Georgetown for our last Contiki-paid dinner. I had a really nice homemade burger and fries, which was so big I couldn’t finish it. Feeling completely worn out after such a long, tiring and hot day, I decided to head back on the coach for the drop off back to the hotel along with several others, whilst the rest stayed on at the restaurant/bar for some drinks and nightlife.

Once back at the hotel I sorted out my case for the last time on the tour, packing all of the souvenirs and literature I’d bought and picked up throughout the day, rearranging clothes and generally trying to organise the storage place I’ve been living out of for the past 32 days! Thankfully once in New York I’ll finally be able to buy a second case or bag, thanks to the two case allowance on my flight home. It’s been hard beyond belief keeping everything inside just one case, since one is all we’ve been allowed to carry around with us and load on and off the bus each day.

Thankfully through Aaron, who I’ll be meeting tomorrow in New York for the last 4 days of my trip, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to ship things to him throughout the trip, and to meet both him and my belongings at my final destination of New York. Without him, heaven only knows where all of my stuff would have gone!

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